Jury acquits 3 of labor fraud in supermarket strike

LOS ANGELES — A former executive of the Kroger supermarket chain and two former managers with its Southern California subsidiary Ralphs were found not guilty yesterday of federal labor fraud charges linked to the 2003-04 supermarket strike and lockout.

Former Kroger executive Scott Drew, 47, former Ralphs manager Karen Montoya, 48, and former Ralphs area vice president Patrick McGowan, 49, were found not guilty of all charges after a jury deliberated less than five hours.

The three were among several people named last year in an indictment accusing them of conspiring to rehire hundreds of locked-out workers using fake Social Security numbers and names during the strike. Two others named in the indictment have pleaded guilty.

The supermarket strike and lockout began in October 2003 and lasted four months. Union leaders ordered a strike against Vons and Pavilions stores. Albertsons and Ralphs responded by locking out employees.

Defense attorney Evan Jenness said he was not surprised by the acquittal.

“They shouldn't have been charged in the first place,” he said. “The prosecution couldn't meet its burden of proof.”

Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephan Cazares declined to comment.

Prosecutors had asserted that the defendants encouraged the hiring of locked-out workers and falsified documents as part of the conspiracy.

Jenness and other defense lawyers argued that Drew, Montoya and McGowan knew nothing about illegal rehiring of union members or falsified information.

In 2006, Ralphs pleaded guilty to five counts of conspiracy, concealment of facts from an employee benefit plan and identity fraud for illegally hiring locked-out workers to keep its stores open during the strike.

The company agreed to pay $70 million to settle the charges and cooperate with prosecutors in the investigation that led to the charges against members of its management.